Development and Psychometric Testing of the Supportive Care Needs Scale for Patients with Tuberculosis (SCN-TB)

Figures & data

Table 1 Demographic Characteristics of the Participants (N=518, N₁=259, N₂=259)

Characteristics	Total (N=518)	EFA (N1=259)	CFA (N2=259)	z/x^2	P
Gender				0.629	0.481
Male	279	135	144
Female	239	124	115
Age [mean (SD)]	32.03 (6.89)	32.43 (6.75)	31.69 (7.03)	1.498	0.221
Ethnicity				1.734	0.188
Han ethnicity	478	235	243
Ethnic minority	40	24	16
Education				8.322	0.080
Primary School or below	106	46	60
Junior High School	188	91	97
Senior High School	126	61	65
Junior College	59	38	21
Bachelor’s degree or above	39	23	16
Marriage				1.362	0.506
Unmarried	149	74	75
Married	298	145	153
Others (widowed, divorced)	71	40	31
Treatment period				1.887	0.389
<2 months	264	125	139
2–6 months	173	89	84
>6 months	81	45	36
Treatment site				2.570	0.109
Hospital	353	168	185
Home	165	91	74
Family monthly income				0.804	0.848
≤1999 yuan	162	77	85
2000–4999 yuan	235	118	117
≥5000 yuan	121	64	57

Abbreviations: SD, standard deviation; EFA, exploratory factor analysis, CFA, confirmatory factor analysis.

Table 2 Item Analysis and Factor Loadings for the SCN-TB

No.	Item	Mean (SD)	C.R.	Item-Total Correlation	Factor Loading	h^2
Factor 1: Physical needs (Eigenvalue=10.12, % of variance=40.49%)
q1	Help me have a healthy diet and improved nutrition during illness.	3.09(1.16)	19.24*	0.66*	0.920	0.948
q2	Teach me to how to perform appropriate daily exercises.	3.07(1.18)	16.42*	0.64*	0.919	0.612
q3	Help me to prevent or manage side effects (eg, joint pain, decreased hearing, and impaired vision).	3.19(1.09)	14.98*	0.58*	0.916	0.968
q4	Teach me to relieve physical discomfort (eg, fever, cough, night sweats).	3.30(1.09)	14.11*	0.60*	0.915	0.954
q5	Remind and instruct me to attend physical examinations on time.	3.21(1.26)	20.65*	0.70*	0.552	0.956
Factor 2: Psycho-emotional needs (Eigenvalue=3.44, % of variance=13.78%)
q6	Help me to protect my privacy during treatment.	3.25(1.17)	15.73*	0.65*	0.893	0.861
q7	Help me to cope with negative emotions (eg, anxiety, fear) and relieve psychological stress.	3.23(1.21)	17.88*	0.70*	0.884	0.789
q8	Help me to engage in healthcare to build confidence in rehabilitation.	3.23(1.02)	10.38*	0.48*	0.878	0.869
q9	Help me to build a positive attitude towards future life.	3.26(1.22)	17.89*	0.70*	0.810	0.855
q10	Teach me to cope with family-related issues caused by illness (eg, getting married and having children).	3.32(1.17)	16.60*	0.68*	0.782	0.744
Factor 3: Informational needs (Eigenvalue=2.69, % of variance=10.78%)
q11	Help me to obtain information about TB (eg, symptoms, transmission routes).	3.52(1.19)	10.70*	0.53*	0.906	0.804
q12	Help me to understand my condition and test results.	3.40(1.24)	12.88*	0.58*	0.895	0.901
q13	Help me to understand the name of the medication, ways of taking it and precautions.	3.40(1.24)	11.17*	0.52*	0.876	0.426
q14	Help me to obtain information about the schedule of treatment after discharge.	3.39(1.27)	11.38*	0.53*	0.817	0.923
q15	Help me to know more about the treatment protocol and prognosis of the disease.	3.37(1.22)	11.95*	0.56*	0.576	0.939
Factor 4: Social needs (Eigenvalue=2.09, % of variance=8.40%)
q16	Help me to communicate with peer patients who have had similar experiences.	3.21(1.23)	16.67*	0.64*	0.946	0.916
q17	Teach me to obtain understanding and support from family and friends.	3.33(1.84)	17.82*	0.67*	0.916	0.669
q18	Help me to participate in support groups and activities.	3.27(1.23)	18.75*	0.70*	0.857	0.529
q19	Teach me to cope with challenges related to changes in social interactions after diagnosis.	3.23(1.28)	20.14*	0.69*	0.801	0.776
q20	Teach me to take effective measures to protect others from being infected.	3.30(1.28)	19.22*	0.67*	0.660	0.875
Factor 5: Practical needs (Eigenvalue=1.73, % of variance=6.93%)
q21	Help me to obtain information about TB policies related to treatment fee decreases or waivers.	3.84(1.10)	7.57*	0.43*	0.910	0.711
q22	Help me to know the expenses of treatment.	3.78(1.14)	7.90*	0.37*	0.864	0.895
q23	Teach me to obtain timely and professional follow-up services after discharge.	3.47(0.87)	7.24*	0.44*	0.786	0.577
q24	Help me to learn and develop a healthy lifestyle.	3.77(1.20)	10.55*	0.50*	0.717	0.727
q25	Help me to establish a stable, long-term connection with healthcare providers.	3.86(1.12)	9.32*	0.48*	0.609	0.869

Notes: h² represents item communalities, *Statistically significant at P-value<0.01.

Abbreviations: SD, standard deviation; C.R., critical ratio value.

Figure 1 Scree plot of principal component factor analysis (N₁=259).

Figure 2 The bootstrapped standardized path diagram of the CFA model (N₂=259).

Notes: q1 to q25 represent the items of the SCN-PTB, Factor 1: Physical needs, Factor 2: Psycho-emotional needs, Factor 3: Informational needs, Factor 4: Social needs, Factor 5: Practical needs; e: measurement error.

Table 3 Results of Convergent and Discriminant Validity Analysis

Factor	CR	AVE	Factor 1	Factor 2	Factor 3	Factor 4	Factor 5
Factor 1	0.872	0.578	0.760*
Factor 2	0.932	0.734	0.657	0.857*
Factor 3	0.921	0.704	0.260	0.076	0.839*
Factor 4	0.920	0.713	0.492	0.348	0.097	0.844*
Factor 5	0.895	0.633	0.421	0.252	0.138	0.206	0.796*

Notes: Factor 1: Physical needs, Factor 2: Psycho-emotional needs, Factor 3: Informational needs, Factor 4: Social needs, Factor 5: Practical needs; *Represents the square root of the AVE of five factors, the italic number represent the correlation coefficients between five factors.

Abbreviations: CR, construct reliability; AVE, average variance extracted.

Table 4 Reliability of the SCN-TB

Domain	Cronbach’s α	Split-Half Reliability	Test-Retest Reliability
Physical needs	0.794	0.712	0.820*
Psycho-emotional needs	0.882	0.842	0.854*
Informational needs	0.856	0.877	0.841*
Social needs	0.906	0.835	0.900*
Practical needs	0.850	0.794	0.843*
Total	0.884	0.883	0.854*

Note: *Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).